I was reminded of Thomas Friedman's book, "The World Is Flat," earlier this month when attending Inc. magazine's GrowCo conference in Nashville. In his book, Friedman discusses decentralized, collaborative, bottom-up development, where all competitors have an equal opportunity. After hearing from speakers at GrowCo, I realized that technology really has created a level playing field for global entry, collaboration and competition in all industries.

Unsurprisingly, family was the major theme of the StartUp Health festival event featuring brothers Todd and Ed Park, co-founders of insurance startup Devoted Health.

The fireside chat hosted by StartUp Health leaders (and brothers) Steven and Howard Krein, traced the origin of the duo’s business relationship from their time at Athenahealth to their current business efforts to launch what they characterize as a “next-generation Medicare Advantage payvidor, sprinkled in with plenty of anecdotes underscoring the Parks’ relationship from childhood onward.

As open enrollment for Medicare began Monday, in one of the largest healthcare company fundraises of the year, Medicare Advantage business Devoted Health says it's raised $300 million in a Series B round led by Andreessen Horowitz.

WALTHAM, Mass., Sept. 20, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Devoted Health announced today that it's now licensed to offer Medicare Advantage Plans in the state of Florida. The healthcare company is approved to offer plans in eight counties across the state — Broward, Hillsborough, Miami-Dade, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pinellas, Polk, and Seminole. Starting in January 2019, Devoted will partner with some of the most trusted doctors and hospitals in Central and South Florida to serve Medicare members in those areas.

Patients at Iora Health's clinics get access to yoga studios and health coaches and can use video chat or text message to reach their doctor at any time.

Iora isn't offering this brand of concierge medicine to wealthy, young professionals from Silicon Valley and New York. Instead, its services are for the sickest and oldest Americans, often with low incomes, who suffer from serious health conditions like diabetes and heart disease.

There’s a new insurance startup focused on Medicare Advantage members. Devoted Health recently closed a $62 million Series A round which, combined with a previous Seed round, adds up to $69 million to date. It plans to roll out Medicare Advantage plans in 2019, according to the company’s website.

Cofounders Ed Park and Todd Park cofounded athenahealth. Ed Park, the CEO, is also a former CTO for athenahealth. Todd Park, executive chairman, also cofounded Castlight Health and served as U.S. CTO, according to its website. Other staff includes Bob Kocher, a Venrock partner who is serving as chief medical officer. Former U.S. Chief Data Scientist DJ Patil serves as chief data scientist with the business. Among the board members are former U.S. Senator and majority leader Bill Frist, Kathleen Sibelius, a former Secretary of Health and Human Services and Venrock Partner Bryan Roberts…